For me, there isn’t any topic more frustrating to write about than the Draft. I don’t get to watch enough amateur baseball to be able to write insightful information. Even if I did watch lots of amateur baseball, I don’t have enough inside information from the Royals to figure out who they may be targeting and therefore the odds of getting to watch any future Royal is pure luck. On top of that, I don’t feel like I have a particularly good scouting eye, so while I can try to project it comes off somewhere between picking a horse at the racetrack and accurately choosing heads or tails in a coin flip. I am also a big stats guy, and it’s impossible to compare high school stats to juco stats to college stats so they don’t tell me much either.

So I, like most of you reading this rely on people who spend lots more time than it seems possible on following amateur baseball or people connected to the Royals who have some insight on who the Royals will be selecting with their draft pick. So if you missed the weekend Royals draft news, because you actually went outside to enjoy the sunshine, then let me get you up to speed.

This weekend, word leaked out that the Royals had a prelimenary deal in place with University of Miami Catcher Yasmani Grandal.

Then today Jim Callis of Baseball America says “not so fast”. He claims the Royals are still going to take Florida Gulf Coast Left Handed Pitcher Chris Sale.

Some bullet points on Chris Sale

He throws out of a low 3/4 arm slot

He is very tall 6’7 by some accounts

He pitches for a small school, which means he pitches against small schools and so his stats are hard to gauge

He has a good sinking fastball

Other than his delivery, he reminds me of Hochevar

Of course, it is possible the Royals take neither of these two players and instead take someone else. Either way, keep your inter-googles pointed to www.royalsauthority.com tonight as we have up to the second analysis of the Royals pick.

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Written by Matt about 5 years ago.

I like to think that I have a decent scouting eye. But most baseball fans probably do. Anyway..my analysis based on the above videos.

Looks like Grandel will struggle with change ups and slow curves. He really looks like he jumps at pitchs and might struggle to keep his weight and hands back. I do like that he’s putting up good numbers at a good college program against good competition. I hope he could stick at catcher and maybe move fast through the system (MLB in 3 years? Wishful thinking probably).

Sale to me looks like a 1 inning relief pitcher in the making. I think his mechanics are pretty clean and easy. I’ve heard talk of maybe trying to change his arm angle, but that sounds like a disaster and an arm injury to me. Assuming he stays a 3/4, I just am not sure I would want MLB right handed hitters seeing him more then once. I would hope to get more then a relief pitcher with the 4th pick, but if he’s the best available then he should be the pick. If he was moved to relief and stays at 3/4, I think he could move really fast (end of 2011).

Thanks for the insight matt. I like Grandal, but only because others have liked him and I feel like the royals could use some position players

Written by CL_on_the_DL about 5 years ago.

If Grandal projects as a league average catcher (offensively and defensively) and it frees up Myers to play outfield, thus accelerating both their timetables to the major leagues then I am on board with Yasmani.

Written by kcghost about 5 years ago.

Why would we take Sale?? We have a bunch of good-looking lefties in the minora already. He doesn’t really have a breaking ball and lefties with his arm slot project as relievers, not starters.

If he is the best player available (not saying he is, but if the royals think he is) then they should draft him. I don’t like drafting on need. I like to draft solely on talent. There is no such thing as having too many great left handed pitchers. They can always be traded for something else.

Written by fb0252 about 5 years ago.

based on those two videos i’d say this is a no brainer decision and not even close: Sale.

Written by gbewing about 5 years ago.

Sale is a bad bad pick- scouts say his upside is situational reliever- why would you go that direction on pick 4, too many red flags, mechanically, small school issue- reaks of a signability pick and even then there are better choices, duplicate of what we already have. Maybe they can’t afford Gandal but don’t throw the pick away-Sales looks like a bust ready to happen

Sale looks way too much like Andrew Miller version 2.0. That scares me away from him. I like the Grandal choice if it happens. Myers to right, Gordon to left, Grandal behind the plate, soon. He’s been in a big time program playing the best of the best, I’d hope he could be up by next August.